"Assassin's Creed: Origins" does not seem content on killing Templars as its selling point. Apparently, it wants to kill central processing units (CPU) too, as reports surface that the game's anti-piracy software is detrimental for processors.
Denuvo digital rights management (DRM), the anti-piracy software bundled with legitimate copies of "Assassin's Creed: Origins," has been alleged to use add up to as much as 40 percent CPU usage during gameplay. This brings the actual CPU usage of the "Assassin's Creed: Origins" up to 100 percent since the game itself is already using more than half the processing power, resulting in excessive heat that may consequently shorten the life-span of the CPU.
It is important to note that the 40 percent additional CPU usage was measured by a group which "cracks" PC games, particularly those trying to remove Denuvo from "Assassin's Creed: Origins" to make it accessible to pirates and everyone else for free. The said cracking group goes by the name of Revolt and has stated that Ubisoft, the game developer, has coupled Denuvo with VMProtect as an escalated piracy countermeasure since Denuvo by itself has been having difficulty preventing successful cracking attempts recently.
Another PC game cracker, named Volski, has also stated likewise, saying that Ubisoft has "doubled-up" on its anti-piracy attempts, and this resulted in the additional CPU load. This was after he reviewed the game's code.
"Basically, Ubisoft have implemented VMProtect on top of Denuvo, tanking the game's performance by 30-40 percent, demanding that people have a more expensive CPU to play the game properly, only because of the DRM. It's anti-consumer and a disgusting move," Volski said. While Ubisoft's additional anti-piracy measure is great for business, Volski also added that players with low-mid range CPUs and who are also on a budget will be the most affected.
The statement from the cracking groups should be taken with a grain of salt, as right now, there is no proper way to calculate whether it was actually the DRM which is causing the 100 percent CPU usage or the game itself. Some PC players of the game have reported that they are experiencing 100 percent CPU usage for the game regardless of the graphical settings used. This resulted in stuttering and frame rate drops, as well as increased CPU heat and noise.
Affected PC players may have to wait for an official statement from Ubisoft regarding the controversy.
